


Peace Without Quiet

by SonriaCat



Series: Tales from Winter Camp [15]
Category: Earth 2 (TV 1994)
Genre: 100 situations, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-02-25 23:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13223469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonriaCat/pseuds/SonriaCat
Summary: Alonzo enjoys the early mornings.





	Peace Without Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Early

Alonzo wrapped his hands around his mug, enjoying the warmth of Bess’ latest coffee substitute. It must have snowed again overnight. The ground around the bio-dome had a fresh covering, disturbed only by the trail of his footprints. Nobody else had made it out of bed yet; sunrise wasn’t even for another hour.

He’d been an early riser ever since his first run as a senior pilot. That was the first time he’d been the first out of cold sleep, and the time between his waking and the passengers’ had been delightful.

It was usually the only chance he had to simply relax and enjoy being in space. Cold-sleep cycles were generally arranged to last as long as possible, meaning that he worked all the way up until he went down and then again the whole time after the passengers woke up.

His early wake-ups had become a small, private indulgence for himself. Blowing on his coffee, he took a deep breath and looked out the window, once more just letting himself _be_.

A few minutes later, the bio-dome’s door slammed open. Magus took her gloves off and blew on her hands. “Cold out there.”

“Mm.” It was impolite not to acknowledge her, but he wasn’t in the right mood for conversation.

Dropping her outerwear in a chair, she sat down with a mag-pro in front of her and began disassembling it for cleaning. What John Danziger was to vehicles, Lynne Magus was to weapons, and she was just as fanatical about keeping them in good shape.

“I can’t wait for winter to be over,” she said. “We’ve been stuck in here in the cold and snow for freakin’ ever.”

He didn’t turn around, hoping she’d take the hint.

“Once the snow’s gone for good,” she continued, “I think the first thing I’ll do is find the nearest patch of grass and lie down in the sun for an hour. What about you?”

He shrugged, admitting that his quiet moment was over. “I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s probably still a little while off yet.”

“Yale says it may only be a few more weeks, and maybe one more after that to be on the way to New Pacifica again. Can’t get there fast enough, if you ask me. Roughing it is not my idea of a good time.”

Alonzo joined her at the table, watching as she finished taking the mag-pro apart and started cleaning various components. “We’ll have our work cut out for us there too.”

“I’d rather have hard work than sitting around staring out windows.” She glanced up. “Or standing around. Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” He blew on the drink again. “I like quiet mornings.”

An embarrassed look flickered across her face, but it was too late for her to respond to his hint now. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right. There’ll be another one tomorrow.”

As if on cue, the door opened again, admitting Julia. Her shoulders relaxed when she saw him. “Oh, there you are. I was wondering.”

“Hadn’t gone far.”

“Good.” She headed over to pour herself a cup of coffee. “Did you have a chance to wake up the right way?”

“Yeah, actually.” When she slid onto the bench beside him, he wrapped an arm around her. “And at exactly the right time.”

“I thought you liked being _alone_ in the early mornings,” she whispered. Magus politely ignored them, focusing on her task.

“I had that.” He squeezed her. “But now I have this. And they’re both good.” He meant it, he realized. Somehow, over the long weeks in the snow, the presence of the other Advance team members had started to energize him instead of drain him, once he’d had a chance to wake up. When had that happened? The presence of people had always meant the end of peace and quiet before.

Of course, he’d always been on a ship before. Things were different now. Dropping a quick kiss on Julia’s forehead, he leaned back and joined the conversation again. Peace, he decided, didn’t always require quiet after all.


End file.
